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William & Mary got me thinking about the law before I ever even set foot in Williamsburg. Over the summer, I received an essay about Thomas Jefferson’s vision for legal education. I imagine this tradition will continue, and if so, I urge you to read the essay. It argues, through the words of Jefferson, that the job of a law school is not simply to create good lawyers, but to create good citizens. I hope you will adopt this understanding of law school (and of education in general). Education is so much more than job training, and if you enter law school with this attitude, I think you will have a much more rewarding experience.
After actually arriving in Williamsburg, you will go through Law Camp, a one-week training course of sorts in legal analysis. Here, you’ll learn how to read and discuss case law, take the Honor Code oath, and learn important information about various law school programs. After this, you’ll be tossed in the deep end. There’s no more of this “the first day is for syllabus distribution and getting to know each other” nonsense. Nope – your professors will contact you with the first day’s reading assignments ahead of time, and people will likely be called on randomly. It is a bit frightening, but you’ll get used to it.
I don’t want to be too bleak in my assessment of the beginning of first semester. It is certainly a bit jarring, but it is a lot of fun. Law Camp includes a number of “get-to-know-you” activities, and the content of your readings, despite popular belief, is actually quite interesting. For example, early in Criminal Law, you may discuss the purposes of punishing criminals. Is it for moral retribution? To deter other would-be criminals? Simply to keep criminals out of society? Your thoughts about this question will color your understanding of criminal law for the rest of the semester. Early on in Torts, you will likely discuss the scope of battery. If we are playing backyard football, and I tackle you, breaking your arm, should you be able to sue me? What about if I give you a bear hug, not realizing that you just had back surgery, thus causing great pain? What about if a surgery patient requests that no one of Polish descent be involved in the procedure, but once the patient is knocked out, the Polish surgeon walks in and operates?
Even Civil Procedure can be interesting! What gives a court the power to subject a citizen to its jurisdiction? If I live in Virginia, when and why should a California court be able to force me to appear before it? Civil Procedure, even though it is largely composed of complex rules, is all about governmental power over citizens.
These intriguing questions continue through to exams and are often left unanswered. But that’s the point. Law school isn’t about feeding you answers. It is about forcing you to think about unanswered (and sometimes unanswerable) questions in new ways. As they say, it is about teaching you to think “like a lawyer.” Often, statutes will be unclear, or there will be no past judicial decisions that a lawyer can rely on. When this is the case, the lawyer will have no clear answer – he or she has to think of one and try to convince a judge that it is correct. And that is what makes the law so gosh darned interesting.
Hopefully I have not frightened you about the first semester and sent you scampering to the bookstore to buy legal supplements to read over summer break. Really, I think the best way you can spend your summer before law school is by not thinking about the law. Don’t try to “get ahead,” because your professors don’t expect you to know what they’re talking about. And as a practical matter, legal supplements are designed to supplement your courses, not to precede them. So, without the guidance of a professor, you probably wouldn’t understand the supplements that well anyway. So, give yourself a break. Relax. Travel. Play golf. Do whatever makes you happy. Trust me – you don’t want to start your first semester of law school already stressed out.
One Down, Five To Go...
| February 11, 2009The first semester of law school is a daunting academic experience. It isn’t like college where your first semester is filled with “gen eds” like basic English composition and math for the liberal arts major. Certainly, your first semester is filled with mandatory courses, but to put the “gen ed” cap on Torts, Criminal Law, and Civil Procedure is asking for a brutal beating.
Metaphorically speaking, that is.
The Great Matt Flyntz!I guess I ought to introduce myself before I go on. My name is Matt Flyntz, and I am a 1L here at William & Mary. I attended a small liberal arts school called Ursinus College (located in the aptly named Collegeville, Pennsylvania) where I majored in politics. I work in the Admissions Office, and Dean Shealy was kind enough to let me share my musings with you.
William & Mary got me thinking about the law before I ever even set foot in Williamsburg. Over the summer, I received an essay about Thomas Jefferson’s vision for legal education. I imagine this tradition will continue, and if so, I urge you to read the essay. It argues, through the words of Jefferson, that the job of a law school is not simply to create good lawyers, but to create good citizens. I hope you will adopt this understanding of law school (and of education in general). Education is so much more than job training, and if you enter law school with this attitude, I think you will have a much more rewarding experience.
After actually arriving in Williamsburg, you will go through Law Camp, a one-week training course of sorts in legal analysis. Here, you’ll learn how to read and discuss case law, take the Honor Code oath, and learn important information about various law school programs. After this, you’ll be tossed in the deep end. There’s no more of this “the first day is for syllabus distribution and getting to know each other” nonsense. Nope – your professors will contact you with the first day’s reading assignments ahead of time, and people will likely be called on randomly. It is a bit frightening, but you’ll get used to it.
I don’t want to be too bleak in my assessment of the beginning of first semester. It is certainly a bit jarring, but it is a lot of fun. Law Camp includes a number of “get-to-know-you” activities, and the content of your readings, despite popular belief, is actually quite interesting. For example, early in Criminal Law, you may discuss the purposes of punishing criminals. Is it for moral retribution? To deter other would-be criminals? Simply to keep criminals out of society? Your thoughts about this question will color your understanding of criminal law for the rest of the semester. Early on in Torts, you will likely discuss the scope of battery. If we are playing backyard football, and I tackle you, breaking your arm, should you be able to sue me? What about if I give you a bear hug, not realizing that you just had back surgery, thus causing great pain? What about if a surgery patient requests that no one of Polish descent be involved in the procedure, but once the patient is knocked out, the Polish surgeon walks in and operates?
Even Civil Procedure can be interesting! What gives a court the power to subject a citizen to its jurisdiction? If I live in Virginia, when and why should a California court be able to force me to appear before it? Civil Procedure, even though it is largely composed of complex rules, is all about governmental power over citizens.
These intriguing questions continue through to exams and are often left unanswered. But that’s the point. Law school isn’t about feeding you answers. It is about forcing you to think about unanswered (and sometimes unanswerable) questions in new ways. As they say, it is about teaching you to think “like a lawyer.” Often, statutes will be unclear, or there will be no past judicial decisions that a lawyer can rely on. When this is the case, the lawyer will have no clear answer – he or she has to think of one and try to convince a judge that it is correct. And that is what makes the law so gosh darned interesting.
Hopefully I have not frightened you about the first semester and sent you scampering to the bookstore to buy legal supplements to read over summer break. Really, I think the best way you can spend your summer before law school is by not thinking about the law. Don’t try to “get ahead,” because your professors don’t expect you to know what they’re talking about. And as a practical matter, legal supplements are designed to supplement your courses, not to precede them. So, without the guidance of a professor, you probably wouldn’t understand the supplements that well anyway. So, give yourself a break. Relax. Travel. Play golf. Do whatever makes you happy. Trust me – you don’t want to start your first semester of law school already stressed out.
